I’m shocked that absolutely no one saw this coming
(Shiftwa.org) Seattle’s $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurants across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that “closings have occurred across the city, from Grub in the upscale Queen Anne Hill neighborhood, to Little Uncle in gritty Pioneer Square, to the Boat Street Cafe on Western Avenue near the waterfront.â€
Who would have thought that artificially increasing base operating costs would have negative consequences?
Remember how, back when she was First Lady, and trying to put together a universal health care coverage plan, Hillary Clinton famously said, “I can’t be responsible for every undercapitalized business?” That’s how the Democrats look at business and economics.
**cough** bullshit **cough**
Your “sources” are right-wing and so-called “free market” orgs.
One even admitted:
No evidence was presented to show the rate of restaurants closings has changed, nor that it was related to the minimum wage – WHICH HASN’T BEEN ENACTED YET.
In the 4 billion year history of Earth, is this the first time a neighborhood restaurant has closed? Correlation is not causation. How could a restaurant have closed 20 years ago in Seattle before the new minimum wage was instituted? Why are you skeptical about climate change but not about restaurant change?
If a higher minimum wage kills jobs why is it that the states with higher minimum wage laws have unemployment rates below the national average?
[…] Once again, Leftism’s results are opposite of their “intent” […]
Jeffrey — I never realized that the Seattle Times and the Seattle Magazine were pro-American publications. I thought that being located in liberal-land they would be leftist.
Besides, according to you Gore-bull advocates, Seattle is going to be 200 feet underwater next year anyway (or was it supposed to be last year?).
John — if you believe the “official” unemployment rates, I’ve got some nice ocean front land in Kansas for you.
If the govt decides that are not looking for work, the divisor (the number of the bottom of the fraction) is reduced. Since obama’s govt has decided that magically fewer people in the labor force today than were 20 years ago, the “official” unemployment number is lowered.
Even the more realistic U6 (unemployed + under-employed) number understates reality.
If the number of people unemployed was really dropping then why are so many stores closing? Why are commercial real estate prices dropping? Why are the govvies bragging about having the highest number of people on govt assistance in history?
Where in those publications (that Teach DID NOT cite) can the evidence be found? The two citation links that Teach DID use are for Shift Washington and the Washington Policy Center, are conservative. The Washington Poicy Center is affiliated with ALEC.
Can you prove that anyone suggested that Seattle was going to be 200 feet underwater last year, this year or next year? Or are you just acting stupid?
No evidence. Biased sources. Stupid lies. You lose.
[…] Teach on The Pirate’s Cove: Surprise: $15 Minimum Wage Killing Jobs and Al Gore Takes Fossil Fueled Flight To Tell Warmists To Organize On The Internet. I find it […]
Reading comprehension Jeffy — The two liberal newspapers are cited in the linked article. See paragraphs 2 and 6
Basic geography and understanding of the Gore-bul Warming cult Jeffy — Ice caps were to be all melted raising sea levels by 200+ feet by mid-2010s. Seattle is a port city located at sea-level.
Really, Jeffy, try actually reading the articles.
I hope some restaurants and other businesses weather the storm of rising expenses. Maybe they could publish the increase in payroll expenses as a direct result of the law. They could also publish the increase or decrease in customer counts as a result of the law.
Problem is that liberals get their education from Comedy Central and the Tonight Show. Guess they will never learn. Instead, liberals will eventually move away from liberal/progressive cities to conservative cities where they find they have more liberty.
Marky,
Oh, they’re cited in the linked article, Marky! Did they contain the evidence that Teach couldn’t supply, Marky?
Oh, so you just made up your bullshit about Seattle flooding, Marky.
You have your lies mixed up, buttercup. The melting of the Arctic will add little to sea levels. Of course, the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice sheet will raise the sea level considerably, but no climate scientist is claiming this will happen this century, and certainly not by the present.
I know you have a hard time with citations, but can you supply something to support your flawed claim.
Really, Marky, try actually reading anything at all before you embarrass yourself.
The more ignorant the conservative, the more arrogant the conservative.
Markie,
Did you find the sources to support your claim that climate scientists predicted that Seattle would be under 200 feet of water by now?
Or can we just assume you misspoke, lied or exaggerated?
Similarly, did you find the sources buried in the right-wing rags that support Teach’s claim (with evidence) that (1) there is an increase in restaurant closings and (2) linking it to a minimum wage increase that has not yet been enacted?
A direct quote from one of the sources:
Marky Mark,
I’m doing your research for you:
from the Seattle Magazine article –
So after interviewing many of the owners of closing restaurants, and listing the individual reasons the actual owners give for closing (location, location, location), and stating that the owners did not “elaborate” on the issue of minimum wage, the author claims it’s a big deal!
The article also disclosed that small restaurants have 7 YEARS to have all employees up to $15!
Marquee: If you read the article as you claimed, how did you miss these details?
Do you have any idea how much effort it takes to refute just one conserva-myth? It takes 5 seconds to type a false headline, but significant effort to refute it.
We beseech thee, can you, or anyone here, please find some evidence buried in the layers of misleading articles cited, that actually supports Teach’s claim that Seattle restaurants are closing from the new minimum wage?
You’re “skeptical” of the overwhelming evidence supporting global warming, “skeptical” to the point of making up stories about flooding Seattel, but you accept without skepticism an un-sourced false claim about minimum wage impacts.
I wish “skeptics” were actually skeptical.
Marco,
You should probably also read the Seattle Times article.
http://www.seattletimes.com/business/economy/workers-ready-employers-brace-for-seattles-minimum-wage-law/
It has a very well-structured, balanced discussion which raises some fair points, none of which supports the claim of the blogpost.
For example, since the new law treats small businesses (<500 employees) differently than large businesses (essentially, national chains), giving the small restaurants a longer runway to reach compliance (by 2021), it means the large businesses are made less competitive. The National Restaurant Association, the large chains and their franchisees are arguing in court that the different treatment violates their 14th Amendment rights.
Should franchisees be treated similarly to other small businesses?
Should the parent companies bear the burden instead of the franchisees? McDonalds has PROFITS of several billion a year. Although the reported average profit margin for food service is 4%, McDonalds reported 16%.
But of course, conservatives don't want to discuss the issue, they just wish to scream that "The $15 minimum wage for lazy Negroes is killing jobs!"
Jeffy is a SCIENCE DENIER!!!
Neener neener.
Cassandra,
You’re so precious. Dumb as a box of rocks, but precious.